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The United Nations estimates that 800-1200 people have died in the earthquake and its aftershocks in the northern part of Afghanistan, sharply lowering the estimates emanating from the country.
Reports coming from Afghanistan said the toll could be as high as 3,000.
About 600 are confirmed dead but as many as 20,000 families or some 100,000 people were affected by the tremors in the remote Nahrin district, chief of the Humanitarian Emergency Branch Kevin Kennedy told reporters in New York on Wednesday.
A helicopter assessment found that 90 per cent of all houses have been damaged forcing thousands to sleep in the open, he said.
He said relief efforts were hampered by aftershocks, and 'the already existing landmine threat'.
"This area did not begin suffering two days ago. It is one of the more remote areas of Afghanistan and lies in the heart of the drought belt. It has suffered food problems for the last four years," Kennedy said.
Nahrin had been heavily mined during fighting between Taliban and Northern Alliance forces and the UN, he said, had begun a process to clear the area of the mines.
Kennedy said relief workers were finding it difficult to reach the area where two of the three approach roads had been damaged by the tremors.
But helicopters were ferrying food and other relief supplies, he said.
Besides, Russia and Doctors without borders, a French NGO, had set up field hospitals in the affected area to address the immediate needs of the people, he said.
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